The present invention relates to vent chutes for providing ventilation to an open attic space and, in particular, to hinged vent chutes which also function as insulation dams to prevent loose fill insulation in an attic from flowing down into a soffit region of a roof and blocking air flow.
Proper ventilation of an open attic space is needed to help: keep a house cool in the summer; prevent condensation during the winter when house interiors are heated; and prevent the formation of ice dams in the winter which can cause water to backup under shingles and leak into a house. Vapor barriers help, but they are not infallible, so something must be done to provide an airflow, through an unheated open attic space. Gable roofs 20, such as the gable roof of FIG. 6, can be ventilated by installing gable and/or ridge vents (not shown); soffit vents 22; and vent chutes 100 intermediate successive rafters 24 of the roof for providing air passages from the soffit region of the roof, over an interior surface of the roof, up into the open attic space. From the open attic space the air passes out through the gable and/or ridge vents. Normally, the rooms beneath the open attic space are insulated from the open attic space by glass fiber insulation batts or blankets 26 positioned intermediate successive ceiling joists 28 and/or loose fill insulations 30, such as, but not limited to, glass fiber blowing wool. Each ceiling joist 28 is normally secured at its ends to rafters 24, but a portion of the ceiling joist 28 in FIG. 6 has been broken away to better illustrate the placement, when used, of glass fiber insulation batts or blankets 26 intermediate the ceiling joists. When loose fill insulations 30 are used to insulate the rooms below from the open attic space, separate insulation retainers or dams 102 are currently installed beneath the vent chutes 100, as shown in FIG. 6, to prevent the loose fill insulation 30 in the attic from flowing down into the soffit region of the roof and blocking the airflow through the soffit from the soffit vents 22 to the vent chutes 100. The need to separately install vent chutes 100 and loose fill insulation retainers or dams 102 increases labor costs when insulating an attic and thus, there has been a need to reduce these costs.
The hinged vent chute of the present invention both vents an open attic space to a soffit region of a roof and functions as a retainer or dam for preventing loose fill insulation from flowing from an attic down into a soffit region to block the airflow from the soffit vents through the soffit to the hinged vent chute. With its one piece construction, the hinged vent chute of the present invention simplifies installation of the vent chute and insulation dam and reduces installation costs. The hinged vent chute includes an elongated chute segment and an insulation dam segment. The vent or air passage from the soffit to the open attic space is provided by one or more upwardly open channels extending from a lower end to an upper end of the elongated chute segment. The air passes through the channel(s) and over an interior surface of the roof from the soffit region of the roof up into the open attic space beneath the roof. The hinged vent chute has a hinge or fold line which joins the insulation dam segment to the elongated chute segment. The hinge or fold line permits the insulation dam segment to be folded or bent downward at the hinge or fold line relative to the elongated chute segment and secured in place to form an insulation dam which prevents loose fill insulation in an attic from flowing down into a soffit region of a roof and blocking airflow. The insulation dam segment may also have one or more hinge or fold lines intermediate the ends of the insulation dam segment to permit the insulation dam segment to be folded intermediate its ends when positioning the insulation dam segment for securement to form the insulation dam.